This is a tutorial on playing traditional Bulgarian dance melodies on the accordion. The following prerequisites are assumed:
This tutorial presents my understanding Bulgarian accordion technique in a series of graded lessons. The aim is solo playing, focusing on keyboard technique. Bulgarian music is largely monophonic and melody-intensive, while bass-side accompaniment is fairly basic. Thus, the bulk of the discussion is for the keyboard, and bass-side discussion is limited. Techniques for ensemble playing are not discussed. Because Bulgarian music is largely monophonic and melodic-intensive, the best way to improve your ensemble playing is to improve your solo playing.
The two main topics of the tutorial are setting (what notes to play) and mechanics (how to play them). These topics are highly entangled, with each informing the other. My approach is to teach mechanics in a set of graded lessons with settings that are mostly prescribed, but allow the student some room for aesthetic maneuvering, allowing development of his own sense for setting.
Information on setting is drawn from my own listening and musical interactions with many Bulgarian music enthusiasts in the US. Mechanical technique presented in this tutorial is based entirely on my own analysis. It's been my (frustrating) experience that good Bulgarian players "just play" and don't have a clear understanding about how they do what they do (either that or they do and choose not to divulge it). In clarifying the mechanics in a public way, I will hopefully provide some value to the Bulgarian music community. Even if what I write contains mistakes (as I'm sure it does), it will hopefully provide a starting point for discussion and impetus for more knowledgable people to share what they know.
The style of playing presented here draws from several models. Boris Karlov, the seminal Bulgarian accordionist, played relatively simple melodies lightly dusted with sharp, percussive ornaments that gave his playing a distinctive, speaking character. Other accordionists, such as Kosta Kolev used a smooth, liquid style of ornament. Kolev's arrangements were of roughly the same complexity as Karlovs, but those who followed him created progressively more complex arrangements with denser ornamentation, while still using the smooth, liquid style. The end of this progression is the wedding band music of Petur Ralchev and others with melodies of virtuostic complexity and with an ornamental auxillaries appearing between virtually every 16th note. I often find such melodies to be shapeless and overly cerebral, although they certainly have their moments. In my view, ornamentation exists not for its own sake, but to shape a melody, and it does this best when used selectively and varies character between sharp and smooth. In the tutorial, I try to make clear the choices between sharp, percussing ornaments and smooth, liquid ones, so as to give a melody an interesting shape. My personal taste may not be yours, so you may choose differently. I'll be satisfied so long as you're making your choice consciously.
Beyond accordion models mentioned above, there are a set of techniques I've developed for playing music I've heard on gaida, gadulka and other Bulgarian instruments. These techniques I've never seen or heard another accordionist use, but they are helpful in realizing Bulgarian music on the accordion, so I have included them. When I describe them, I will note their non-traditional character to avoid confusion with "authentic" Bulgarian accordion playing.
Copyright 2018 Erik Butterworth. All rights reserved.